Karnataka - Mangalore   

CPI sees need to strengthen pro-people movement

By Our Staff Correspondent

MANGALORE, MARCH 15. The 19th four-day State meet of the Communist Party of India (CPI), which ended here on Sunday, has taken note that Dalits and tribal people are slowly drifting away from Communist parties. The meet said that there is a need to strengthen the pro-people movement to retain the loyalties of the lower and middle classes.

A senior member of the CPI observed that the party's major support base — Dalits, tribal people and the working class who represented other backward classes (OBCs) — are trying to organise themselves and emerge as an independent political power. This is an indication that they want to move away from Communist parties.

Challenge

According to D. Raja, secretary of the CPI, this is a challenge that Communist parties in the country have to address immediately. Dalits and tribal people had identified themselves with the Communist parties for many years. There is a need for Communist parties to step up efforts to champion their causes seriously, he said.

Mr. Raja also drew the attention of party members to the naxals getting closer to tribal people as they have taken up the issue of land rights of tribal people.

He said the onus is on Communist parties to take up the issues of people of other backward classes and the middle class.

Some political observers say that the apprehension of Communist leaders may have stemmed from the fact that parties such as the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Lok Janshakti Party and the Samajwadi Party, which claim to be parties of the Dalits and OBCs, are making efforts to strengthen their base.

The Communist parties are also facing another challenge, that of retaining the support of the people of the lower strata of society. Observers said that if the number of people from the lower strata of society is taken as consideration, the support base of Communist parties should have grown in the district. They should have emerged as an alternative to the Congress. But that has not happened.

When asked why Communist parties have not been able to perform well in the district in recent years, Siddanagouda Patil, secretary of the State unit of the CPI, told The Hindu that most tile factories have closed down and the beedi industry is languishing in the district. This has forced labourers to take up other professions, which, in turn, has affected the support base of the Communist parties.

Change

The Communist parties have identified themselves with labour agitations and trade unions. But the changed political scenario has made them turn their focus on other issues as well. The CPI's State meet has resolved that the party should take up environmental issues, the threat to native culture and language, and mineral wealth of the land. The party has also decided to launch a campaign, "Karnataka Nela Jala Rakshisi", after June.

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